Weatherbox - Flies In All Directions

While Brian Warren has released a handful of extended plays and 7-inches over the past three years, fans haven't heard a long playing, fully realized Weatherbox release since 2009's criminally underrated The Cosmic Drama. It's been a damn shame, too, since Warren possesses one of the most unique and spirited minds in the genre. Thankfully, our long national nightmare is over with Weatherbox's Triple Crown debut, Flies In All Direction. It's been worth the wait, as Warren's songwriting is tighter, denser, and more focused than ever before.

Some of Flies have existed previously in live form for years - such as sharp opener "Pagan Baby" as well as the gentle finale, "Love Me A Good Mircocosm" - making it a treat to finally hear these songs in all its final, recorded glory. In fact, there are hints of the band's past littered throughout Weatherbox's third full-length, examples like the jittery pop-punk of "Kick-Flips" (any attempts to get Warren's declaration of "Welcome to what went wrong!" out of your head will be futile) and the stop-start aggression of "The Fresh Prints Of Bill Ayers." But when Warren deviates from the path most traveled to include different tempos, indie-pop flourishes, and stylistic curveballs is when Flies travels deeper into the dark psychoses of Weatherbox. For starters, the stuttering synth-rock of "Bathin' In The Fuss" along with "Bring Us The Head of Weatherbox"'s angular distortion revel in Warren's biting, sarcastic take towards the critics wanting to tear down his music.

But Flies peaks with the one-two punch of "The Devil And Whom?" and "Dark All Night For Us." The latter slowly burns into a fist-pumping, raucous anthem that shows off Warren's immense wit, while the former is a five and a half minute acoustic-tinged journey through the frontman's somber thoughts. It's a brilliant showcase of how Warren expertly weaves his words together into something equivocally profound, with Manchester Orchestra's Andy Hull joining in on the song's vague religious motif. Both tracks expand on the wandering openness of The Cosmic Drama, allowing Warren's idiosyncrasies to roam freely. The record's 54-minute running time is brought to a serene finish with the aforementioned "Love Me A Good Microcosm." The much-anticipated closer presents Warren's take on his afterlife over a simple acoustic chord, emerging as a lyrical masterwork and epitomizing Flies' overall theme with stunning poignancy.

Weatherbox engulfs all the qualities you should want in your favorite band - thoughtful, complex lyrics woven within challenging, prosperous musicianship. Not only does Flies In All Directions combine the best elements of American Art and The Cosmic Drama, it exceeds them, resulting in what's bound to a genre-defining staple for years to come.

So "Flies in all Directions" has a double meaning, right? Flies as a verb, and as a noun. Like "flies off in all directions" and "there are flies buzzing around in all directions". Right? The latter being a reference to Love me a Good Microcosm?

So "Flies in all Directions" has a double meaning, right? Flies as a verb, and as a noun. Like "flies off in all directions" and "there are flies buzzing around in all directions". Right? The latter being a reference to Love me a Good Microcosm?

Never thought of that...probably does have that double meaning.

"Love me a Good Microcosm" maybe my 2nd favorite Weatherbox song behind "Trippin the Life Fantastic".

Never listened to Weatherbox before this, and it's honestly probably going to have a huge affect on how I look at music. It reminded me of the first time I heard ...Is a Real Boy (mixed with a little Left & Leaving), and that's something I've been waiting for ever since the first time I heard ...IARB haha. Quirky, beautiful, close to perfect. I never expected it, and never preordered an LP so fast.

Never listened to Weatherbox before this, and it's honestly probably going to have a huge affect on how I look at music. It reminded me of the first time I heard ...Is a Real Boy (mixed with a little Left & Leaving), and that's something I've been waiting for ever since the first time I heard ...IARB haha. Quirky, beautiful, close to perfect. I never expected it, and never preordered an LP so fast.

Nice review Drew.

This is how I felt (for the most part) when I first got into them. It makes me happy, and is entirely the kind of reaction I hoped this record would illicit from people. I highly suggest listening to the rest of their discography. It's amazing.

In my opinion, this record is a like a bug bite that you keep scratching at because it feels oh so good when it happens. And then finally, the bug bite opens up from excessive scratching and the air soothes the open wound and it's like loving a good microcosm. Whatever, you guys, I have a ton of bug bites from being at the beach this past weekend and this album is really incredible.

Between this and Mansions' DOOM LOOP, I've been pretty happy about music recently.